We write to taste life twice, in the moment and in retrospect. -Anais Nin

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Referralvarsary!

1 year ago…

So today is kind of a big day around here. Today marks the one-year anniversary of our referral for Mr. Tariku Asamo Abiyu. You can read how it happened here. It’s baffling to think that was a year ago. When I think about that time my belly gets the butterflies it had then and my tears run down my cheeks like they did then. It was not so long ago that he came into my heart and settled there.

We obviously were not expecting it so soon. Just days after we turned in our dossier we were still hunkered down for a winter’s worth of waiting. We got that, though we were waiting for paperwork to go through and various other court issues that seemed to stall out the process to traveling. We originally had hopes of traveling to Ethiopia just after Christmas. Then it turned into Valentine’s Day. Soon after it was Easter. When Easter came and went we shot for my brother’s birthday (April 11) and that’s what we got. We traveled April 2nd and got back April 11th. One week, to the day, short of a year we went through the process.

When I talk to other adoptive moms who have brought their kiddos home about how much of a change we went through in that time no one can really believe it. One year, in most lives, can come and go with not much change. I can say this year was the biggest change hotflawedmama has seen in all my years. Including becoming an unmarried, pregnant college student all at one time. That was nothing compared to the last year I’ve had!

What a year, what a blessing, what a miracle. From the moment I heard Cindy’s voice on that phone I knew he was my son. I saw that picture of a scared little boy with little hope and knew we could give each other something we might not have believed in before. Hope, love of another country, of another child/mother, faith, miracles and a bond that is unexplainable yet so real.

I think about this day with mixed emotions, as I undoubtedly will on all of Tariku’s big days. I think of his Ethiopian family with love and humbling gratitude. One year ago, just a few weeks after they made the excruciating decision to give him a different life, all of our lives changed. It was official, for all of us. We would share him. Today marks the day where Ethiopian Asamos and American Klipschs united in prayer for this one baby boy who is a blessing to us both.